Mother Approved!

It’s always the most fun to watch your kids play when they don’t know you’re looking. Sunday mornings around here are lazy. Sometimes I get up, make coffee and then snuggle back into bed. This last Sunday was no different, so when I crept into the kitchen to start the coffee pot, the house was still quiet. I curled back into bed with my still sleeping sweetheart and a book, but I dozed off for a little while. When we woke up we could hear the boys in the kitchen fussing with cereal. Except Andrew, who is 11 and totally knows better, decided that breakfast + sleeping mommy = cookies. Evan (who is 8 and is apparrently the only one listening when I turn into ranting-raving-about-healthy-food-mommy) was not having it. As we lay quietly listening to the conversation in the kitchen unfold, I had to bury my face in the pillow so the boys wouldn’t hear me giggling.

Evan: “Andrew!!! You can’t eat cookies for breakfast!”

Andrew: “Why not? There’s no good cereal in here and I’m HUNGRY. Gah.”

Evan: (I should mention that at this point, Evan was totally pissed) “Andrew!!! Just eat them! They’re MOTHER APPROVED!!!!”

Andrew, honey, I’m makin you some muffins. There’s no Kix in there, but they’re approved.

Dry ingredients go in the large bowl. This go-round I used the crummies at the end of the box of Life cereal and some crushed up Honey Bunches of Oats. I think the last time I made these muffins I used Raisin Bran- just find some sorta grainy or “healthy’ cereal and smash it up a little bit. You only need 3/4 cup. Oh and Kix actually DOESN’T work very well cause the little cereal puffs just poof into nothing when you smush ’em.

Apple Carrot Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (if you’re REALLY feelin it go for whole wheat flour. I just didn’t have any on hand)

3/4 cup ground flax seed (if you don’t have this you can use quick oats or more cereal)

3/4 cup coarsely crushed grainy cereal

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk (skim or soy or 2%- you could use whole if it’s what you’ve got, but really, that’s not so healthy)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups shredded carrots

2 apples peeled, cored, and shredded

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (pecans or almonds work well too)

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins

To make

Preheat your oven to 350. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper liners. I like to shred the carrots and apples first and put them in a medium sized bowl with the cranberries and nuts until I’m ready for them. I put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, toss them around a little to mix, and then add the milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil. Stir until combined, then add your carrots, apples, nuts, and cranberries. Mix it all together and then spoon into your prepared pans (fill each muffin cup to about 2/3 full). Bake a regular sized muffin for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. I made some mini muffins, and they took about 9 minutes to bake.

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